Tuesday, July 24, 2012

From Prato to New York to Cheat at GFNY

Gabriele Guarini (left) of Prato, Italy and David Anthony (right) of New York both tested positive for EPO at Gran Fondo New York according to the organizers. That age groupers (Guarini is in the 50-54 age group) take EPO for a gran fondo is stunningly stupid. It isn't the first time and won't be the last unfortunately.

An excerpt from the press release:
"Two cyclists tested positive for EPO at Gran Fondo New York on May 20, 2012. David Anthony of New York City admitted today to having used the drug to enhance his performance at bike races. Gabriele Guarini from Prato, Italy accepted the results of his A sample.

"Of course we were shocked to hear the news on the positive tests, in particular given the use of EPO. EPO is a blood boosting drug that has to be injected and is not a simple over the counter product," says Gran Fondo New York CEO Ulrich Fluhme. "Doping control helps clean riders have fair competition. We believe that we came closer to achieving that by introducing out-of-competition (OOC) and in-competiton (IC) testing. All our OOC tests came back negative as did the vast majority of IC tests. Plus, the announcement of testing before the event kept away notorious cheaters."

The US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) was onsite in Weehawken, NJ, the finish site of Gran Fondo New York, on May 20, 2012 and conducted the testing. Gran Fondo New York appointed USADA to perform urine testing for both OOC and IC testing on its behalf. All doping control tests were conducted in accordance with the USA Anti-Doping Rules, which are in accord with World Anti-Doping Code and the International Standard for Testing."

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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousJuly 25, 2012 at 7:01 PM

    I was under the impression that the Gran Fondos are fun social rides? Am I missing something here?

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  2. Angelo senza la oJuly 25, 2012 at 7:53 PM

    @anonymous: in Italy gran fondo events are very competitive events. Everyone wears a timing chip. In the USA gran fondos have varying degrees of competitiveness. The GFNY has some good prizes, )see: http://granfondony.com/prizes/) which are based on King of the Mountain results.

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